^^ 



<, 



ADDRESS 



at the 



Graduating Exercises 



of the 



Lowell Institute School for 
Industrial Foremen 



N 



by 

HOWARD ELLIOTT 

Chairman of the Board 

and President of 

The New York, New Haven and Hartford 
Railroad Company 




Lowell Institute, Boston, Mass. 
May 26. 1915 






JUL - 191S 




When I was in Washington on May 12 I received a 
dispatch from Mr. Lowell asking me to make a short talk 
to you to-night. I accepted for several reasons. One, 
that I am always glad to do what I can to help Mr. Lowell, 
who is doing so much for good education and good citi- 
zenship in this country. Another, that officially I realize 
the great importance of the duties and work of men who 
fill the positions of foremen. On the New Haven road 
there are nearly 1,000 such men, and the efficiency and 
safety of the road is influenced very largely by the kind 
of men they are and the way they do their work, and from 
among these foremen the road hopes to obtain future 
superintendents, master mechanics and other officers. So 
this school is of much interest to me individually and 
officially, and I am glad to have a chance to say a few 
words to you. 

In this busy United States of ours there is a vast 
amount of work to be done. That work must be done by 
millions of individuals, and it must be directed by thou- 
sands of other individuals. In order to achieve the results 
all good citizens desire, namely, better living condi- 
tions for the people, and to leave the world a better place 
than when they came into it, it is necessary for those who 
work to understand that they cannot obtain the right to 
command imtil they have fully realized their duty to 
obey ; and always to give consideration to others. 

An Important Men like you should have great influence 
Problem. in making work successful for those that 

are to report to you. You should also 
have a marked effect in helping to solve one of the im- 
portant problems of the present day — the proper relation 
between capital and labor, and the proper duty and func- 
tion of organized labor in the complicated social system 
of the age. The solving of this problem calls for wis- 
dom, tact, experience and judgment. 



Capital and Labor There are certain propelling social and 
Unions. industrial forces in the United States, 

and, no matter what place a man holds, 
he is associated with others, and this naturally will have 
an effect, good or bad, upon others. In this country there 
is the great force of collective effort, through which have 
been created the manufacturing plants, the railroads, the 
banks, the insurance companies, labor organizations and 
the Government itself. Some of these organizations have 
made mistakes. In the case of capital the country has 
corrected some of the errors made by the unions of capi- 
tal, the so-called trusts. These big capital organizations 
have accomplished much for the welfare of the United 
States, but, in some directions, they perhaps went too far. 
The labor unions are important elements of progress, but 
if their leaders are not wise and not careful, and if these 
leaders fail to appreciate the real sentiment of the coun- 
try, the people will take them in hand just as they 
did the capital unions and declare: **You must give due 
weight to the interests of the entire country; you must 
realize that you are part of an instrument for carrying 
on the work of the country; you must bear in mind that 
the country is greater than all. ' * The people, in the last 
analysis, are the final check to prevent unfair tendencies 
and methods, either by capital or labor. 

I hope this country will never see the terrible strikes 
that we have had in the last twenty-five years. I hope 
there will be a spirit of getting together and of reasonable 
discussion so that we will not witness a repetition of the 
old-time disastrous conflicts between labor organizations 
and capital organizations. There should be found a rea- 
sonable way to settle differences of opinion harmoniously 
in the interest of all concerned. 

Advantages of You should consider yourselves fortu- 
Technical nate in being able to obtain the advan- 

Trainingf. tages of courses given by the Lowell 

Institute School for Industrial Foremen, 
coupled, at the same time, with practical experience and 



work in your mill or factory or shop. You have in this 
way obtained a wider experience. You have learned 
some things in this school that you did not learn in the 
shop, and vice versa, I hope you have discovered also 
that you have much to learn and that there is always an 
opportunity to learn more and thus to do better work. 

Graduates' One of your graduates recently wrote 

Testimony. about the school as follows : 

'*0f more permanent satisfaction to me than recog- 
nition in the form of improved position and pay is 
the opportunity for rendering service in new fields 
which the Lowell Courses have given. Formerly 
opportunities to be useful seemed to be limited by 
lack of experience. Now I recognize no limit except 
the capacity to learn. In other words, the school has 
given me not only material advantages, but new 
ideals. I have valued, too, the continual contact with 
real workers, such as the Lowell School alone gath- 
ers. Several of us who had the privilege of a college 
education before entering the Lowell School have 
agreed in private conversation that, if we were to 
start our careers over again, and if we knew upon 
leaving high school that we were to enter technical 
trades, we should secure a general college education 
and then combine technical training at the Lowell 
Institute with practical and more or less remunera- 
tive experience.'* 

Another graduate says : 

*^The ability to consult with engineers and me- 
chanics with the * prestige' of a technical education, 
has certainly helped my advancement and I would 
gladly spend double the time and trouble again to 
gain what I did. ' ' 

Still another says : 

**Four years ago (when I entered the school) I 



was the lowest-priced man in the shop, of which I am 
now Foreman, and I attribute my success principally 
to the training received at this school/' 

Eating Men. Your work here and in the shops should 

help' you to rate or to set an estimate 
upon and to handle men — one of the most difficult of all 
problems. An interesting paper on the subject of rating 
men was written recently by Dr. Katherine M. H. Black- 
ford. In it she says : 

^^The subject of rating men is fraught with very 
great difficulties. I have encountered those difficul- 
ties, I think, in about every phase in which they 
could possibly be presented. If anyone who even 
claims to be able to analyze or rate men tells you that 
it is an easy matter, you may take his statement with 
a grain of salt. We can measure a man's height in 
centimeters or inches ; pounds or ounces or grams or 
centigrams offer us exact standards for measuring 
his weight, but there are no absolute standards for 
measuring the man himself and probably there never 
can be. We cannot put a man on the scales and 
ascertain that he has so many milligrams of good 
sense or so many cubic centimeters of financial abil- 
ity, or so many amperes of disposition to industry. 
Human worth can, therefore, be measured relatively 
only. By the study of large groups we can ascertain 
approximately the average or normal. 

**To know and to rate a man's aptitudes, abilities, 
personality and possibilities are of the highest im- 
portance, but these cannot be rated except in relation 
to his work and to his environment." 

Essentials of Dr. Blackford very properly insists that 

Success. without health no man can do good work 

in any position, and she sums up a man's 
physical value as follows : 

* * Size, endurance, strength, condition of body, pre- 
dispositions, morality, sobriety and sanity." 

6 



Under the head of character the same writer places : 

** Honesty, truthfulness, loyalty, discretion, pru- 
dence, enthusiasm, courage, steadfastness and de- 
pendability. ' ' 

Under the important head of intelligence this same 
writer mentioned the following: 

** Ability to learn, ability to understand and follow 
instructions, judgment, memory, observation, ex- 
pression in speaking, expression in writing, imagina- 
tion and reason." 

You must therefore care for yourself physically, 
mentally and morally in order to do your share of work 
in the world, and yet, with all of these, it is not likely the 
best success can be achieved if you are not enthusiastic 
and do not love your work and love to accomplish results. 

The Handling Mr. W. A. Grieves has written a paper, 
of Men. called **The Handling of Men,'* and in 

it he says : 

**No two of us may have the same idea as to the 
methods to be employed in handling men successfully. 
We may disagree as to means; but we believe we 
can all get together when it comes to matters of prin- 
ciple ; and we are sure that all of us are seeking the 
same result — the greatest good for all concerned. 
In the first place (and it may sound platitudinous 
and academic to say it ; but it is none the less true) 
it should be distinctly understood that there can be 
no successful policy of dealing with men where the 
spirit of confidence is lacking. Confidence is the 
foundation upon which harmonious relationship 
must be erected, and efficiency — the result we are all 
seeking — is nothing more than a by-product of har- 
mony. Every employer is in business to make money 
— so is every employee. Both are selfish — and both 
should be — for without that spirit of selfishness. 



which is the very basis of progress, the world would 
stand still. Assuming this statement to be true, the 
question is, how can this confidence between employer 
and employee be secured? I have my opinion, but it 
may not agree with yours. But that does not matter 
much. What I believe and what you believe are only 
incidents — mere opinions — ^unless we can back up 
our belief with something practical — something that 
has been tried and something that has worked — that 
has secured results. 

** These are days of honest dealings. Men who ex- 
pect to remain in business know that misrepresenta- 
tions re-act, that chickens come home to roost. And 
men in business to-day do not recognize this neces- 
sarily for any particular moral reason, but for the 
scientific reason that it is good business.'* 

Up to Honesty is of the greatest importance. 

Specifications. We now know that America is sending 
many manufactured articles to Europe. 
We have recently read a complaint that American 
goods are not up to standard. This is a serious criti- 
cism upon honesty and integrity. I am glad to believe 
that this is an isolated instance of a breach in sound busi- 
ness morals. A man in charge of turning out articles 
ought to be certain that he does good work and that 
**good goods" are delivered in accordance with specifi- 
cations. If he does not do this he hurts his country, in- 
jures, in the long run, the business in which he is engaged, 
and himself. 

Need of Sometimes a man is put into a position 

Training. which is too much for him. There is 

danger in this, as well as danger in not 
giving him proper opportunity. Many men develop 
under responsibility, and this was illustrated in an 
interesting incident mentioned recently in the Railway 
Age Gazette in an article called **The Training of Fore- 
men." Part of it is as follows: 

8 



'^It has on occasion been remarked, and by men 
whose opinions in such matters should carry weight, 
that in order to be a successful executive one must be 
born with executive ability. We venture to disagree 
with this statement, while granting that the born ex- 
ecutive is likely to prove more successful in the long 
run than one whose executive ability is the result of 
training and experience only. A case in point is that 
of a certain engine-house foreman. The division 
master-mechanic had never been able to obtain a 
foreman who could make a success at one of the 
smaller terminals. There were a number of reasons 
for this, including bad labor conditions. After sev- 
eral unsuccessful appointments, a young man, then 
a machinist, was chosen as foreman and sent to this 
point to ^ clean it up,' as the master-mechanic ex- 
pressed it. He made a dismal failure and had to 
return to work in the shop. Instead of giving him up 
as a bad job, the master-mechanic believed that he 
himself was at fault in starting the man in on a job 
that was too heavy for him, and a few months later 
the young man was given an opportunity to show 
what he could do as an assistant foreman. He filled 
this position most successfully for some time and 
succeeded to the foreman's position, but when left 
thus to his own resources and without the guidance 
of a foreman over him, he again went to pieces. He was 
again given an appointment as assistant foreman, 
and after another two years in this position was pro- 
moted to foreman. The experience of being twice set 
back had taught him his lesson and he is now one of 
the most successful foremen on this road." 

This incident demonstrates that a superior should 
help a subordinate and not leave him too much alone with 
a new task. Helpful criticism often aids a man to suc- 
ceed. Encouragement at the right time is important in 
an effort to get the best work out of men. It is wise now 
and then to say, **Well done, thou good and faithful 
servant." 

9 



Twenty Years' 
Progress. 



And, again, you are fortunate that you 
live in the United States instead of in 
Europe, where this frightful war is be- 
ing waged. This war will throw upon this country 
greater economic burdens and responsibilities than it has 
ever been called upon to bear. This fact makes more im- 
portant than ever the loyal, honest, effective work of 
every citizen of the United States. Consider the growth 
of the last twenty years, when this country was in compe- 
tition with all the world : 



Population: 



1890—62,947,714 
1910—92,174,515 



Per square mile — 21.16 
Per square mile — 30.99 



Wealth: 



1890— $65,037,091,000 
1912—187,739,000,000 

Bank Clearings: 

1890— $58,845,279,505 
1910—159,539,539,000 



Number 
1890—3,484 
1910—7,145 



National Banks: 



Deposits 
$1,521,745,665 
5,287,216,312 



1890- 
1910- 



Savings Banks: 
Depositors Deposits 



4,021,523 
-9,142,908 



Imports: 

1890— $789,310,409 
1910—1,556,947,430 



$1,550,023,956 
4,070,486,247 

Exports: 

$857,828,684 
1,744,984,720 



10 



Agriculture : 

No, of Farms No. of Acres of Farm Land 

1890—4,564,641 623,218,619 

1910—6,361,502 878,798,325 

Value of All Farm Property: 

1890— $16,082,267,689 
1910— 40,991,449,090 

Value of Farm Products: 

1890— $2,460,107,454 
1910— 8,498,311,413 

Wheat Production: 

1890—399,262,000 bushels 
1910—635,121,000 bushels 

Corn: 

1890—1,489,970,000 bushels 
1910—2,886,260,000 bushels 

Copper Production: 

1890—115,966 tons 
1910^-482,214 tons 

Steel Production: 

1890— 4,277,071 tons 
1910—26,094,919 tons 

Gold Production: 

1890— $32,845,000 
1910— 96,269,100 

Manufactures : 

Value of Products: 

1890— $9,372,378,843 
1910—20,672,051,870 

11 



No. of Wage 
Earners: Wages Paid: 

1890—4,251,535 $1,891,209,696 

1910—6,615,046 3,427,037,884 

Conservation The growth of the country in the next 

Necessary. thirty years will probably not be as spec- 

tacular as during the last several 
decades. Its development, though, will be steady and will 
require the help of just such men as you who have been 
educating yourselves in the theory and practice of your 
chosen work. The great wealth of the country is in land, 
in buildings, in machinery, in merchandise and in perma- 
nent agencies for the production of wealth and for serv- 
ice to the whole people. The American nation, in the 
last fifty years, has had such a marvelous growth that 
certain habits of waste and carelessness have grown up. 
We must in the future be more careful and conserve in 
every way the natural resources of the country. We 
must make use of all by-products in order to care for 
what we have and thus preserve as much as possible for 
those who are to come after us. 

So the opportunity is here for those who have health, 
courage, persistence, patience, ability, and, above all, a 
love for and a willingness to work. 

Always Room The United States has many men in it 

at the Top. who are leaders, who are successful and 

who began at the bottom of the ladder. 
You will recall the famous saying ascribed to Daniel 
Webster — ** There is always room at the top." 

Take the railroad business, for example. Mr. Alfred 
H. Smith, President of the New York Central Railroad 
Company, was formerly a foreman of construction. Mr. 
E. P. Ripley, President of the Atchison, Topeka and 
Santa Fe, began as a clerk in the office of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad in Boston. Mr. Samuel Rea, President of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, left school at fif- 

12 



teen and began in the engineering department of that 
road. Mr. Daniel Willard, President of the Baltimore & 
Ohio, was a fireman in Vermont on one of the old wood- 
burning engines. Mr. James H. Hustis, President of the 
Boston & Maine, began as a clerk on the New York Cen- 
tral road. Mr. Julius Kruttschnitt, of the Southern Pa- 
cific, was an engineer in charge of construction and a 
roadmaster in his early days. Mr. Marvin Hughitt, of 
the Chicago & Northwestern, began as a telegraph opera- 
tor. If you are interested in the one who now addresses 
you, he began his railroad work as a level rodman in 
northwestern Missouri at $15 a month. 

Risen from Mr. James A. Farrell, President of the 

the Ranks. United States Steel Corporation, began 

his life's work as a very young lad in a 
steel wire mill in New Haven. Mr. John D. Ryan, head 
of the Amalgamated Copper Company, started at the bot- 
tom rung in a western mining camp. Mr. Charles M. 
Schwab worked on a farm and was driver of a coach be- 
fore he went into the steel business. Mr. Levi P. Morton 
was the son of a poor Vermont farmer, began work in a 
country store at fourteen at Enfield, N. H., became one of 
New York's great bankers, and later was Vice-President 
of the United States and then Governor of New York. 
Mr. Thomas A. Edison began at twelve as a train boy 
and later became a telegraph operator. Mr. Henry Clay 
Frick was a farmer's boy and later became a clerk and 
bookkeeper. Mr. John Wanamaker began at fourteen as 
an errand boy in a book store at a dollar and a quarter a 
week. Lincoln was a rail splitter, Garfield a canal-boat 
boy and McKinley a poor farmer boy. Grover Cleve- 
land began work in a law office at $4 a week. Andrew 
Carnegie began as a bobbin boy when he was twelve years 
old for ^ve shillings a week. Later he was a messenger in 
a telegraph office and from that worked up in the rail- 
road and steel business. George M. Pullman began work 
on a farm and later was a clerk in a general store. I 
could add an almost innumerable list of others who, from 

13 



very humble beginnings, achieved great success in this 
land of opportunity. 

Choosing: the The other day the Worcester Telegram 

Captains. had an editorial as follows : 

** Twenty of the largest railroad systems of the 
United States have presidents who have been chosen 
from the ranks within the past ten years. Only two 
of these are found to have risen because of inherited 
pull or by the backing of family capital, and these 
two earned the distinction by personal effort as well 
as capitalistic power which they heired. That is, 
they showed the special capacity by activity before 
being entrusted with the responsibilities. Twenty 
great industrial corporations which rank in import- 
ance with the railroad systems also have chosen 
new presidents in the last ten years, and only five of 
these won the distinction by money influence, and 
these are not presidents because of their inheritance, 
but because of recognized ability and experience. 
These incidents mean that the larger industries of 
the United States are not passed down by families 
and put under the management of some who have 
nothing else to do and must have salaries to live on. 
The captains are chosen on their merits as judged by 
what they have accomplished. The great majority of 
them have climbed the ladders from the bottom 
where they worked as boys. The railroads and the 
industrial plants have been their colleges, and they 
have made their diplomas without a technical or a 
civil service examination.'' 

These men accomplished what they did by degrees and 
by very hard work and by overcoming many obstacles. 

There is as much need to-day in the United States, if 
not more than ever, for men who can make good use of 
their knowledge of chemistry, electricity, engineering, 
economical methods and the training of men. After this 

14 



dreadful war is over, we shall be in competition again 
with foreign nations. Some of these peoples have learned 
to a greater degree than our own people the doctrine of 
long, hard and persistent work. If we are to compete 
with the Germans and with the Japanese in their indus- 
trial activity, we must be able to turn out as good work 
as they and turn it out as economically. 

New Fields of The transportation business, in which I 
Opportunity. have been engaged for thirty-five years, 

has been highly developed in this coun- 
try. There is yet much to be done in the way of perfect- 
ing economies and making savings in that business. 
Sooner or later, a field will be open here for the develop- 
ment of transportation on the sea, and this will introduce 
a new opportunity for American talent. If we are to 
achieve our highest commercial development we must 
have ships that will carry our products to other countries. 
The same ability and ingenuity that has developed the 
wonderful American railway system will, no doubt, in 
time, develop the American mercantile marine, and this 
will give work to thousands of intelligent men. 

When Opportunity John James Ingalls, of Kansas, wrote 
Knocks. a sonnet called * ^ Opportunity, ' ' and I 

will read it to you : 



~*-%i. II '■■II 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 982 748 3 
Opportunity will knock at your door some day, and 
one benefit you should obtain from your training in 
this school should be the ability to recognize that oppor- 
tunity and to take advantage of it. I do not feel as 
strongly as Mr. Ingalls does, that opportunity comes only 
once, because we know men have tried and failed and 
then tried again and succeeded. It is, however, most de- 
sirable that you should recognize your opportunity and 
be ready to make the best of it. Just now, when we are 
in the shadow of this great world conflict, there is an- 
other duty that rests upon every American citizen; and 
that is to hold himself in readiness to come to the sup- 
port of his country, no matter what crisis may present 
itself. We do not want war with any nation, but it is no 
more unwise for this country to prepare itself and be 
ready for the future than it is unwise for you to prepare 
yourself to fight the battle of life so that you may be able 
to care for those who are dependent upon you. 






lillwiim^^ CONGRESS 

029 982 748 3 



